Translational Medical Research Commons^™

Latinos' Health Perceptions: A Cross-Cultural Analyisis, Elizabeth Pappenfus

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2014

The purpose of my study is to examine how Latinos’ cultural health beliefs impact their illness behaviors in a rural setting in comparison to White individuals. Illness behavior is defined as the manner in which a person monitors their body, interprets their symptoms, and their reactions to those symptoms. Although Latino immigrants suffer from higher rates of treatable diseases, they are largely underutilizing the healthcare system in the U.S. The Andersen model of healthcare utilization is the most commonly used model for predicting utilization based on the person's environment (i.e. healthcare system) and personal characteristics (i.e. personal need, available resources, …